Biomass Week - August 24, 2012

DOER announces renewable portfolio standard Class II suspension This week, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Secretary Rick Sullivan directed officials from the Department of Energy Resources to begin a moratorium on the qualification of woody biomass units for the Massachusetts RPS Class II program. READ MORE SHARE
California issues 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan California has released its 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan, which is designed to accelerate clean energy development, job creation, and protection of public health and safety. The plan was developed by state agencies and outside experts. READ MORE SHARE
	Denver is the place for algae biomass in September Algae Biomass Summit, now in its sixth year, convenes Sept. 24-27. Algae Biomass Organization expects nearly 900 leaders from all over the world to attend the event, which features more than 90 live sessions and 120 poster presentations. READ MORE SHARE
CEC hires Gas Tech Institute for biogas, natural gas-fired CHP The Gas Technology Institute has been awarded two new contracts totaling $3.5 million from the California Energy Commission, in order to develop new combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and waste heat-recovery technologies at industrial facilities. READ MORE SHARE
Weltec Biopower constructs new biogas plant in Poland Weltec Biopower GmbH started to build a 2.4 MW biogas plant in Darzyno, Pomerania, Poland. The plant will process farm waste, liquid manure and potato waste from a chip manufacturer. The facility is expected to be operational in mid-2013. READ MORE SHARE
Chemtex cellulosic plant project wins USDA loan guarantee Chemtex International Inc. received a conditional USDA loan guarantee to build a 20 MMgy cellulosic ethanol facility in eastern North Carolina's Sampson County. The plant, named Project Alpha, plans to use energy grasses as feedstock. READ MORE SHARE
Japanese energy giant buys into U.S. biomass power industry A Tokoyo-based energy company has acquired shares in five biopower facilities located in California from Chicago-based Exelon Corp. IHI Inc., a subsidiary of IHI Corp. from Japan, will gain 70 MW of generating capacity through the acquisitions. READ MORE SHARE
FutureMetrics analyzes wood pellet project risks In order to illustrate advanced modeling techniques for identifying and quantifying risks associated with wood pellet manufacturing projects, FutureMetrics Inc. released an overview of a risk analysis authored by company President William Strauss. READ MORE SHARE
Hong Kong researcher produces biochemical from Starbucks waste Food waste generated from Starbucks stores in Hong Kong might hold the key for a new biobased chemical-from-waste production process method. The enzymatic hydrolysis step converts the bakery waste into simple sugars, which are fermented. READ MORE SHARE
Neste Oil, Stora Enso shelve plans for renewable diesel plant Neste Oil and forest products company Stora Enso are abandoning plans to build a renewable diesel plant. The two companies had applied for funding under the E.U.'s NER 300 program, but the project was not selected for an award. READ MORE SHARE
Boeing, COMAC see great potential for renewable jet fuel in China Boeing Inc. and the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China have officially opened the Boeing-COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center in Beijing, China to collaborate on the growth of commercial aviation fuel. READ MORE SHARE
GE gas engine hits milestone at biogas power plant Powered by GE gas engine technology, a combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Germany's Bitburger Brauerei brewery has surpassed 50,000 hours of successful operation. The facility uses a Jenbacher J312 gas engine to convert biogas into power. READ MORE SHARE
KiOR, Dynamic Fuels achieve EPA registrations KiOR Inc. and Dynamic Fuels LLC are working to put advanced and cellulosic RINs into the marketplace. The two companies were recently granted additional biofuels registrations by the U.S. EPA for their respective fuel outputs. READ MORE SHARE
BASF, Cargill and Novozymes partner on biobased acrylic acid BASF, Cargill and Novozymes have signed an agreement to develop technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw materials. Presently, acrylic acid is produced by the oxidation of propylene derived from the refining of crude oil. READ MORE SHARE
Mass. publishes final RPS woody biomass regulations More than two years after the process began, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has published its final regulation pertaining to the eligibility of woody biomass energy for its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) Class I regulations. READ MORE SHARE